As much as we love adding new features to Outlook, for the maintainability of our product we sometimes need to remove those that are out of date and aren't utilized by a large number of users. This allows us to focus on improving the Outlook features that most of you, our customers, rely on.
Apple has today launched a new status page for its iCloud, store and general services that provides far more detail about status and uptimes of its various cloud and backend components. The page features detailed breakdowns of each service, categorized by section including Services, Stores and iCloud.
Google Maps (Free) by Google, Inc. is the Apple Maps replacement everyone has been waiting for. Since they took out Google for the maps in iOS 6, Apple has faced numerous public incidents because of their in-house Maps software, with the latest being potentially life threatening in Australia. And now, for everyone’s sake, Google Maps returns.
Adobe has released a free font set for coding environments called Source Code Pro. The set include 6 fonts :
You can download it at sourceforge.net/projects/sourcecodepro.adobe
Here’s some samples to compare it with other fonts good for coding.
Source : www.powertheshell.com
Even though Cassini is the default development web server in Visual Studio, Microsoft has provided a stand-alone option that also integrates with Visual Studio. IIS Express is almost exactly like the full IIS, only it is self-contained, it isn’t a service, and it doesn’t need admin rights for most tasks. We are going to walk through how to get it, how to configure it, and how to make the most of it without spending a lot of time on it.Article : Tim Corey on CodeProject
IIS 8 on Windows Server 2012 doesn’t have any fixed concurrent request limit, apart from whatever limit would be reached when resources are maxed.
However, the client version of IIS 8, which is on Windows 8, does have a concurrent connection request limitation to limit high traffic production uses on a client edition of Windows.
Learn about the features and functionality that are deprecated in SharePoint 2013.Complete article : Changes from SharePoint 2010 to SharePoint 2013
Stress test your application stack and expand your toolset with Windows versions of popular Unix/Linux-based command-line utilities with this month’s tools.
StressStimulusGnuWin
Navigating Windows 8 involves a steeper learning curve, but you can't dispute the features that Microsoft has absolutely nailed.Complete article : www.cio.com
Microsoft announced today that it has participated in the porting of a hit iOS game, Contre Jour, to the web with Windows 8 and Internet Explorer 10. Described as the most ambitious use of HTML5 to date, Contre Jour needs to be experienced with a Windows 8 (or RT) tablet to be fully appreciated.
Interested in playing Contre Jour on the web? Check it out now at http://www.contrejour.ie.Source : Paul Thurrott's Supersite for Windows
The latest language from the company once identified for its programming languages seeks to bring a higher class of developer into the Web apps space, without changing the foundation of the Web... even if such a change wouldn’t be such a bad ideaRead more : ReadWriteWeb
Last week, a hacker group claimed that it breached computer systems at 100 major universities. Team GhostShell gained access to servers at Stanford, Harvard, and the University of Michigan, among others. The technique used, SQL injection, is not new or complex, but reportedly it's becoming increasingly common. Here's a quick guide to defending your servers.Read more : ReadWriteWeb
Here’s a little AppleScript Droplet to clear all Extended Attributes in OS X. This is useful to delete the famous com.apple.quarantine attribute.
Then, you can simply drag an drop files or folders on the application.
(*
------------------------------------------------------------------------
C L E A R E X T E N D E D A T T R I B U T E S
Delete all extended attributes from one or many files
under OS X
Author : Jean-Pierre.Paradis@fsa.ulval.ca
Date : 2 octobre 2012
Version : 1.00
Language : AppleScript (Droplet)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*)
tell application "Finder" to display alert "Please drop file(s) or folder(s) on this application to delete all extended attributes" as informational
on open Dropped_Things
repeat with Item_index from 1 to the count of Dropped_Things
set Dropped_Item to item Item_index of Dropped_Things
set Dropped_Item_Info to info for Dropped_Item
if folder of the Dropped_Item_Info is true then
Process_Folder(Dropped_Item)
else
Process_File(Dropped_Item)
end if
end repeat
end open
-- this sub-routine processes files
on Process_File(File_Item)
set File_POSIX_path to POSIX path of File_Item
set File_Item_Info to info for File_Item
display dialog "Processing '" & (name of File_Item_Info) & "' ..." with icon note buttons {"Ok"} with title "Clear Extended Attributes" giving up after 1
do shell script "xattr -c '" & File_POSIX_path & "'"
end Process_File
-- this sub-routine processes folders
on Process_Folder(Folder_Item)
set Folder_Content to list folder Folder_Item without invisibles
repeat with Item_index from 1 to the count of Folder_Content
set Folder_Content_Item to alias ((Folder_Item as Unicode text) & (item Item_index of Folder_Content))
set Folder_Content_Item_Info to info for Folder_Content_Item
if folder of Folder_Content_Item_Info is true then
Process_Folder(Folder_Content_Item)
else
Process_File(Folder_Content_Item)
end if
end repeat
end Process_Folder
It’s part of the Windows Management Framework 3.0.
It’s included with Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012, but it can be installed on
To download : www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/
You may also take a look at Windows PowerShell 3.0 and Server Manager Quick Reference Guides
Many companies are happy with the features SharePoint provides out of the box. Usually the only customization they want to do is change the webpage layouts and design to make them go along with their corporate design. For this purpose, they have a production SharePoint farm and one for test purposes. The customizations are done with SharePoint Designer on the test farm, and after they have been tested thoroughly they are rolled out to the production farm. But, more often than not, the day comes when SharePoint Designer isn’t enough and the SharePoint developer has to take the next step up to Visual Studio.
Source : 4sysops.com
While users of other email services need to access third party services to send huge files over the Internet, Outlook.com offers a better, more seamless experience: Attachments that exceed the service’s 10 MB attachment limit can simply be transmitted via SkyDrive instead. Put simply, Outlook.com users never need to worry about these limits.
Source : Paul Thrrott's Supersite for Windows
Another day, another provocative research report from Gartner, which has a long track record of spectacularly wrong predictions. I've collected some of their greatest hits. Er, misses.
Read the article @ www.zdnet.com
The free SolarWinds Diagnostic Tool for the WSUS Agent is designed to diagnose and even suggest corrections to common WSUS/agent issues.
Source : 4sysops.com, www.solarwinds.com
ADREPLSTATUS has a nice Office-like GUI with a ribbon and can replace RepMon or RepAdmin of the Windows 2000 support tools.
Source : 4sysops.com
Download : www.microsoft.com
Microsoft’s new Surface tablets are exquisitely engineered, and no one can accuse them of being me-too products. Yesterday’s launch was impressive, but it also left many questions unanswered.
Read the full article : The Ed Boot Report
At the time of this writing, the feature list is probably not yet complete. I will update this list whenever I stumble upon a new feature and post the update in the 4sysops news streams
Link : 4sysops.com
This week Apple rolled out a new version of Safari that includes a security-related feature aimed at Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) and OS X Lion.
If you read Apple’s official announcement, you might think that Safari 5.1.7 will protect you from exploits that target vulnerabilities in outdated versions of Adobe Flash Player. That would be a fine feature indeed, except that Apple’s more detailed documentation says it does no such thing.
Source : www.zdnet.com/blog/bott
It’s been said, Microsoft Windows 8 won’t include DVD playback. Not necessarily a bad thing.
If you want to understand a little bit more about this, I suggest the 2 following articles by Ed Bott (ZDNet) :
XPERF, also known as Windows Performance Analyzer, ships as part of the Windows Performance Tools (WPT) kit. The latest WPT ships as part of the Windows SDK for Windows 7 and .NET Framework. The WPT consists of:
- XPERF – an interactive trace capturing tool used in this case to enable ETL tracing of a slow user logon clearly not caused by the background loading of the OS (that is, a slow boot).
- XBOOTMGR – enables ETL tracing, reboots the host computer then stops capturing N # of (default 120) seconds after user logon for 1) slow boot scenarios and 2) slow logons caused by delays in the OS boot process.
- XPERFVIEW – views ETL traces captured by XPERF or XPERFVIEW in a graphical format linked with rich numerical reports and stack traces data to drill into delays for impacted and root cause components and functions.
Source : social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki
This breakdown of Kerberos settings and how they correspond to AD provides much-needed clarity
This ongoing need to clarify how Kerberos works and how it fails is a result of the fact that—although Kerberos remains the same—the services that use it and the ways they use it are often unique. The aspects that remain the same in each scenario, however, are what the settings in Active Directory (AD) are intended to address, and the difficult-to-interpret messages you’ll see when things fail.
Source : www.windowsitpro.com
A pair of high-profile malware attacks have given Apple a crash course in security response. Based on recent actions, 70 million current Mac owners have a right to expect much more from Apple than they’re getting today.
Eugene Kaspersky last week argued that Apple is “ten years behind Microsoft in terms of security.”
Source : The Ed Boot Report
Microsoft made available for download a new release of its free anti-virus/anti-malware program for Windows PCs, Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE), on April 24.
The MSE 4.0 release is available via the Microsoft Download Center and the MSE Web site. (I learned of its availability from a post on Neowin today.) The latest version runs on Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7.
Source : www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft
This morning, even a bit earlier than we expected, Omar Shahine and Mike Torres posted on the Building Windows 8 blog on the new updates to SkyDrive that “make personal cloud storage for Windows available anywhere”
Immediately upon opening SkyDrive in the browser (once you are signed in), you’ll see a notice about something we hinted at the other day: future users are only going to be allowed 7 gb of free storage, instead of the 25 gb offered now. This is still bigger than Dropbox’s 2gb, or even the long rumored Google G Drive, which is said to be offering 5 gb
However, as early adopters, we’re getting a sweet deal: just click on the link in that message, which brings you to the managed storage page.
…click on the Free upgrade button, and you’ll keep your 25gb as free storage. From here, too, you can manage paid storage options, adding 100 gb of storage for $50/year.
Source : www.liveside.net
New features include:
- Support for System Center 2012 Configuration Manager
- Integration with Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset 7 (DaRT) and Security Compliance Manager (SCM)
- Support for Windows 8 Consumer Preview for deployments in a lab environment
- Support for Windows Server “8” Beta
In terms of desktop management, Group Policy is the cornerstone of a Windows administrator’s arsenal. With Group Policy, you can deploy software, printers and drive mappings. You can configure default settings and manage client behavior. But how do you manage Group Policy? The built-in mechanics for managing Group Policy are simply inadequate for most organizations. Windows administrators either have complete access or no access by their addition and removal from the Group Policy Creator Owners Security Group. Further, Group Policy Object (GPO) management lacks in terms of change control, automated backups, and role based delegation. Microsoft’s Advanced Group Policy Management (AGPM) addresses all of these issues.
Source : 4sysops.com
Apple today has made good on its promise to release its own tool that detects and removes any instances of the Flashback malware onMac systems running Java. The tool is only available for systems running OS X 10.6 or later, and is bundled with a slightly updated version of the most recent Java runtime, but is a separate component that is installed and runs on its own.
Source : reviews.cnet.com
Today we're announcing Groups for Schools, which allow people with an active school email address to join groups at their college or university.
Source : newsroom.fb.com
Facebook is restricted to users under age 13, but according to a new survey, that hasn’t kept young children away.
MinorMonitor, a tool for parents to watch their children’s Facebook activities, surveyed 1,000 parents about how their children use Facebook, finding that 38% of children on Facebook are 12 and under. Of the 1,000 children represented by their parents, 40 were under age six.
Source : mashable.com
A common question that I come across when I talk about IIS is, How do I keep track of my application pools? I want to know every time my app pool stops etc etc.
There are several ways we can do this. Simplest of all would be to write a script (AppCmd or IIS powershell snap-in) and run it to check status. However, what I wanted was to keep a side-by-side web front end using which I could track the app pool status through the web. This means I would need to have a web server running beside IIS to relay me the data.
Enter IIS Hostable Web Core (HWC).
Source : www.iisworkstation.com
The nightmare scenario for Mac owners is here. At least 600,000 Macs worldwide have been infected, silently, by the Flashback Trojan, with no user interaction required. Here’s why this is just the beginning of a long-term problem.
Source : The Ed Boot Report
IPMI (Intelligent Platform Management Interface) is a specification defined by Intel and adopted by a number of companies for standardizing hardware management, particularly in server systems. IPMI supports both in-band (from the operating system) and out-of-band (from the network direct to hardware) management. The protocol IPMI uses for out-of-band management is not based on WS-Management and not the focus of this blog post.
Available since Windows 2003 R2, Microsoft has developed a generic IPMI Driver and IPMI Provider in Windows to enable management of BMCs (Base board Management Controller) that implement IPMI. The IPMI Driver (IPMIdrv.sys) is essentially a light-weight “pass-through” driver which takes IPMI requests and returns IPMI responses. The IPMI Provider (IPMIprv.dll) takes the heavy load of converting between IPMI and CIM.
One-third of mobile users say they've told others when they had a bad experience with a mobile app. But more than half say they've recommended an app based on a positive experience. Put yourself on the right side of that conversation with these seven best practices.
Article : drdobbs.com
Adobe just released a critical Flash Player security update. Good news: it includes a new automatic updater for Windows. Bad news: Adobe’s download page pushes a misleading “system optimizer” designed to scare users into paying for unneeded repairs.
Source : The Ed Boot Report
Microsoft® Script Explorer for Windows PowerShell® (Script Explorer) helps scripters find Windows PowerShell scripts, snippets, modules, and how-to guidance in online repositories and local or remote file systems. This collection of documents describe how to deploy, install, and configure Script Explorer, and how to configure the local and network file system repositories and the aggregation web service.
The documentation for Microsoft Script Explorer for Windows PowerShell is listed below.
Source : social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki
Anyone who regularly uses Log Parser 2.2 knows just how useful and powerful it can be for obtaining valuable information from IIS (Internet Information Server) and other logs. In addition, adding the power of SQL allows explicit searching of gigabytes of logs returning only the data that is needed while filtering out the noise. The only thing missing is a great graphical user interface (GUI) to function as a front-end to Log Parser and a ‘Query Library’ in order to manage all those great queries and scripts that one builds up over time.
Log Parser Studio was created to fulfill this need; by allowing those who use Log Parser 2.2 (and even those who don’t due to lack of an interface) to work faster and more efficiently to get to the data they need with less “fiddling” with scripts and folders full of queries.
With Log Parser Studio (LPS for short) we can house all of our queries in a central location. We can edit and create new queries in the ‘Query Editor’ and save them for later. We can search for queries using free text search as well as export and import both libraries and queries in different formats allowing for easy collaboration as well as storing multiple types of separate libraries for different protocols.
Source : blogs.technet.com/b/exchange
Are you planning to test the Windows 8 Consumer Preview? Make sure you pick up a product key. Unlike Windows 7, you can’t skip this box and fill in a key later.
Looks like there is a GPO settings to force Windows to not show the start menu when you log in (aka start Desktop) … but un fortunately it works only on with Windows Server 8 Beta !
Read Alan Burchill post on Group Policy Central to get all the details.
Over at ZDNet, I’ve put together a blog post that explains why some Windows 8 testers are unhappy with the Metro style Start screen. I also have some recommendations on how to customize Start to overcome some of those objections.
I explain, in detail, how to give your Start screen a complete makeover so it becomes a useful gateway to the Windows desktop. I also introduce a handful of keyboard shortcuts that will make switching between the Start screen and the desktop much easier.
The blog post is here.
For the step-by-step instructions, see The Metro hater’s guide to customizing Windows 8 Consumer Preview.
Here’s what you’ll find in that gallery:
- Introduction with before/after screens
- How to quickly remove tiles from Start
- How to change the Start screen background
- How to pin desktop apps to Start
- How to pin files and folders to Start
- Creating custom groups of tiles
- The hidden Zoom shortcut
- Renaming and rearranging groups of tiles
- Replacing the “betta” desktop background
- How to create a desktop background that perfectly matches the Start screen
- Uninstalling Metro style apps you don’t plan to use
- Creating custom shutdown/restart shortcuts
It also includes the five Windows 8 keyboard shortcuts you must know:
- Opening the Charms menu
- Opening the Settings pane
- Searching for Windows settings
- Using the new program switcher
- Using the classic app switcher that recognizes desktop programs and Metro style apps
Much of this material will, of course, appear in the upcoming revision of Windows 8 Head Start.
Source : Ed Bott
If you have been following all the good press around Windows 8 and are waiting to try it on your own computer, here’s the good news. The consumer preview version of Windows 8 (just a fancy name for beta software) is now available for download and it is very likely that your existing system specs are good enough to run Windows 8.
The System Requirements for Windows 8
Should you download Windows 8 Setup or the ISO Image?
Will my software programs run inside Windows 8?
What route should you take?
The next GTI will be an order of magnitude better, bringing it back in line with the original hot hatch.
Lighter, faster, stronger, better. That's what we can expect from the seventh-generation Volkswagen Golf, due to be unveiled at the 2012 Paris Motor Show before it hits dealerships across Europe this fall and eventually lands on U.S. shores as a 2013 model.
So what makes it special? A combination of new manufacturing processes, an all-new platform, a range of upgraded engines and what will go down as one of the greatest democratizations of active safety and in-car technology in automotive history.
What's more, the next GTI will be an order of magnitude better because of it, bringing it back in line with the original hot hatch while packed with even more standard features.
...the turbocharged 2.0-liter – making use of Audi's Valvelift system – will max-out at 280 hp. But fear not, your front tires are safe. Sorta. The GTI variant is likely to be limited to around 230-240 hp, but torque will be up to nearly 260 pound-feet.
Source : Autoblog
So after launching Daemon Tools Lite today, I noticed a new pane on the right labeled MountSpace. Turns out, it’s a cute little service that shows the top games and applications that folks are mounting and using in Daemon Tools. And to deliver that experience, Daemon Tools hashes every image you mount and sends it to MountSpace servers with or without permission. Combined with your IP address, and probably more, it doesn’t take a genius to realize this is a huge privacy issue.
Source : Within Windows
Yesterday Google released Chrome 17. Read the What’s new in Chrome 17 from George B. Moga
The Windows 8 Consumer Preview will be available for download on February 29. Why isn’t it called a beta? Blame Google. And Apple. And Microsoft. Especially Microsoft.
Source : Ed Bott's Microsoft Report
Today I tried to do a sysprep of a Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 computer before capturing an image of it via imagex.
sysprep.exe /generalize /oobe /shutdown /unattend:unattend.xml
Everything went fine and the computer shutdown.
Then I rebooted the server and had a blue screen (BSOD) :
STOP: c000021a {Fatal System Error}
The session manager initialization system process terminated unexpectedly with a status of 0xc000003a (0x00000000 0x00000000).
The system has been shut down.
I found out that SYSPREP had made some changes to my Boot Configuration Data (BCD). Here’s an extract of my setupact.log file :
LaunchDll:Found 'C:\Windows\System32\spbcd.dll,Sysprep_Generalize_Bcd'; executing it
Sysprep_Generalize_Bcd: Located BCD store on system drive. Generalizing it...
GeneralizeBcdStore: Found the memory tester object.
GeneralizeBcdStore: Found the Windows OS Loader object {bb3f7e5d-3afe-11e1-908d-0010184c4562} for the currently running OS.
GeneralizeBcdStore: Found the resume object {bb3f7e5c-3afe-11e1-908d-0010184c4562} for the OS loader.
GeneralizeBcdStore: System drive backed by VHD = 0
GeneralizeBcdStore: Generalizing object {9dea862c-5cdd-4e70-acc1-f32b344d4795}
GeneralizeBcdStore: Successfully generalized application device. Status = [0x0]
GeneralizeBcdStore: Generalizing object {b2721d73-1db4-4c62-bf78-c548a880142d}
GeneralizeBcdStore: Successfully generalized application device. Status = [0x0]
GeneralizeBcdStore: Generalizing object {bb3f7e5d-3afe-11e1-908d-0010184c4562}
GeneralizeBcdStore: Successfully generalized application device. Status = [0x0]
GeneralizeBcdStore: Successfully generalized OS device. Status = [0x0]
GeneralizeBcdStore: Generalizing object {bb3f7e5c-3afe-11e1-908d-0010184c4562}
GeneralizeBcdStore: Successfully generalized application device. Status = [0x0]
GeneralizeBcdStore: Successfully generalized hiberfile device. Status = [0x0]
Sysprep_Generalize_Bcd: Successfully generalized the bcd store. Status=[0x0]
LaunchDll:Successfully executed 'C:\Windows\System32\spbcd.dll,Sysprep_Generalize_Bcd' without error
So, after running sysprep /generalize my BCD looked like this :
Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {default}
device locate=\windows\system32\winload.efi
path \windows\system32\winload.efi
description Windows Server 2008 R2
locale en-us
inherit {bootloadersettings}
osdevice locate=\windows
systemroot \windows
resumeobject {bb3f7e5c-3afe-11e1-908d-0010184c4562}
nx OptOut
detecthal Yes
Did you noticed the locate=… value for the device and osdevice entries ? Well it seems that those new values were causing my blue screen.
I restored the previous values (before Sysprep) with the following commands :
bcdedit /set {default} device partition=C:
bcdedit /set [default} osdevice partition=C:
After that, my computer was able to boot again.
I’m not sure, but i suspect that this little mixed up with the BCD Store maybe related to how I partitioned my disk :
| WinPE
Size 900Mb, boot WinPE to capture or apply an image from imagex |
| ESP
Size 100Mb, EFI System Partition, Active Partition |
| Microsoft Reserved
Size 128Mb |
| Windows
Size 120Gb, C: drive |
| Data
Size 400Gb, E: drive |
My disk is initialize as a GPT disk and this is an EFI Computer.
Always make a backup of the BCD store before running SYSPREP :
bcdedit /export backupbcd.bcd
Today I wanted to find a way to flush the IIS FTP logs on-demand. The logs for IIS FTP flush to disk every 6 minutes, and the HTTP logs every 1 minute (or 64kb). This can make troubleshooting difficult when you don’t receive immediate access Read More......(read more)
Source : The Official Microsoft IIS Site
A utility to help system administrators diagnose and repair problems with the WMI service.
Source : Microsoft Download Center
The transition to a plug-in free Web is happening today. Any site that uses plug-ins needs to understand what their customers experience when browsing plug-in free. Lots of Web browsing today happens on devices that simply don’t support plug-ins. Even browsers that do support plug-ins offer many ways to run plug-in free.
Metro style IE runs plug-in free to improve battery life as well as security, reliability, and privacy for consumers. Previously, we wrote about how we use IE’s Compatibility View List to make sure sites that have a plug-in free experience for other browsers provide that same experience to IE10 users. This post describes a way for sites that continue to rely on plug-ins to provide consumers browsing with Metro style IE the best possible experience.
Developers with sites that need plug-ins can use an HTTP header or
metatag to signal Metro style Internet Explorer to prompt the user.
Source : IEBlog
Compat Inspector is now available for IE10. Use Compat Inspector to quickly identify if Internet Explorer platform changes affect your site. Whether you're preparing for IE10 or still updating for IE9, run Compat Inspector on any page experiencing problems. Then watch for messages explaining potential issues and steps you can take to resolve them.Source : IE10 Compat Inspector - IEBlog
Don't waste your time trying to understand what this blog is about or why is there so many unrelated news in it (from Formula 1 to computer programming). It's simply my own personal blog where I can put any information I like.